ARRL Membership Postcard Found in QST
June 1940 QST Article

Membership in the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is currently $49.00 per year, and includes a subscription to its flagship publication, QST. According to this postcard insert that I found in a June 1940 issue of QST, membership then was a whopping $2.50, and it also included the magazine subscription. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' online Inflation Calculator, $2.50 in 1940 bought you what $43.04 buys in 2016. You can't get much more consistent in holding costs to a consistent standard over a span of 76 years! Working it backwards, the $49.00 membership fee in 2016 is the equivalent of $2.85 in 1940. The comparative difference is a increase of a tad under 14%, but that pales in consideration of the additional service provided nowadays.

BTW, postage for mailing a postcard in 1940 was a mere 2¢, and today is 34¢. In inflationary terms, 2¢ in 1940 bought the same as 34¢ in 2016 - an exact equivalent! The U.S. Postal Service earns an 'attaboy' for that one.

American Radio Relay League Postcard

Posted August 9, 2016